Telecommunications services are an integral part of business and personal communications, allowing geographically remote users to communicate irrespective of location. Communications messages between users may assume a variety of formats. For instance, users may communicate by various methods including telephone calls, e-mail messages, instant messages, pages, and voicemail messages.
Most communications systems feature a notification mechanism for alerting a user of an incoming message. In general, such notifications make it possible for users to realize the exact moment when an incoming communication is received. One common notification is the audible ring of a telephone to signal an incoming call. Another common notification is a representative icon, such as a picture of an unopened envelope, displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) to indicate that an e-mail message has been received.
At certain times and places, however, it may be inconvenient for a user to receive a notification or receive a message in a particular format. In a business meeting, for example, it may be distracting for a user to hear the audible ring of a telephone or receive a telephone call. To avoid being disturbed, a user may turn off the ringer on the telephone and, in effect, disable communication. During such times, an important channel of communication is severed.
Accordingly, users would benefit from a communications system that enables received messages to be directed to an alternate location and/or to be rendered in an alternative format.